Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments and, more particularly, to surgical forceps for grasping and/or treating tissue that incorporates a retractable knife capable of being used as a scalpel.
Background of Related Art
A forceps is a plier-like instrument which relies on mechanical action between its jaws to grasp, clamp and constrict tissue. Electrosurgical forceps utilize both mechanical clamping action and electrical energy to affect hemostasis by heating tissue to treat, e.g., coagulate, cauterize, and/or seal, tissue. Typically, once tissue is treated, the surgeon has to accurately sever the treated tissue. Accordingly, electrosurgical forceps have been designed which incorporate a knife or blade member which effectively severs the tissue after electrosurgical treatment thereof.
In some surgical procedures, it is necessary to dissect through one or more layers of tissue, for example, in order to reach underlying tissue(s) to be treated and/or divided. As can be appreciated, it may be beneficial, particularly with respect to endoscopic surgical procedures, to provide a single instrument capable of performing both of these tasks, thereby obviating the need to alternatingly remove and insert different instruments in favor of one another.